PRINCETON — When the Princeton High girls’ lacrosse team had its three-goal lead slip away midway through the second period, Emilia Lopez-Ona did what she does best.

“She leads by example,” said Princeton coach Kelsey O’Gorman.

Lopez-Ona ignited a four-goal run that sparked the Tigers to a 14-11 win Monday over West Morris in the second round of the North Jersey Group 3 tourney.

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The second-seeded Little Tigers (17-3) will get another home game, facing the winner of No. 3 Sparta and No. 11 Montville. The game is scheduled to be played Thursday, but that is the date of the prom in Princeton, so it could be changed.

Seventh-seeded West Morris (7-11) erased Princeton’s 10-7 lead to take an 11-10 advantage with 11:32 left in the game.

It was beginning to look like there might not be a scheduling problem.

But Lopez-Ona, who went over the 100-goal mark on the season, took the ball off the draw to tie the score.

“We had played a really solid game and we needed to get our energy full throttle,” said Lopez-Ona. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. All their losses were to top-20 teams. We knew it was going to be a make or break game for us.”

The Tigers made it in style.

Gabby Gibbons followed with a huge interception and goal. Then Lopez-Ona scored again and Gibbons capped off the run.

“I knew if we stayed patient and kept calm as a team we’d do well,” said the sophomore Gibbons. “My team really supports me and gives me the confidence.”

There was confidence up and down the lineup for the Tigers. Mira Shane had several big saves in the cage.

“I can’t get enough of games like this,” said Shane. “The amount of focus goes up and I have to make sure my technique is there. When the game gets close it’s all mental and I have to keep my head in the game.”

Despite trailing, the Tigers – and Shane – stayed focused.

“These girl’s are not going to back down,” O’Gorman said. “They know what they are capable of. They know if they work together they can’t be stopped.”

Lopez-Ona got No. 100 on the season at 16:29 of the first half and added five more to pace the Tigers attack with six goals. Gibbons added three with Dana Smith and Liz Jacobs each getting two. Olivia Kelly added a single goal while Smith had a pair of helpers with Jacobs and Gibbons getting one assist.

West Morris was led by Rebecca Reig with four goals. Paige Burton had three and Sydney Sapir came in with two. Julia Radossich and Mackenzie Metzler each had single scores.

The game was tied five times, but except for the one spurt, the Tigers stayed poised and never let things get away from them

“You could see the growth in the team, the way they handled themselves,” O’Gorman said. “We haven’t played a lot of strong teams. We played smart and used each other and I was happy to see that.”

A year ago, Lopez-Ona finished with 99 goals and it kind of left some unfinished business for 2013.

“Since I had 99 last year this feels pretty good,” said Lopez-Ona, who will be University of Penn-bound in 2014. “It was nice get it and even better that in came in win like this. We all want to play for a state championship.”